Sky News
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Sky News is Europe's first 24-hour television news channel, originally launched as part of the 4-channel Sky Television network in February 1989. Its main competitor in the UK is BBC News 24 while elsewhere in Europe it competes mainly with BBC World, Euronews and CNN International. A former competitor within the UK was the ITV News Channel, which has ceased broadcasting. Sky News is available via satellite in Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia and Oceania.
The station broadcasts from Osterley, West London. Sky News currently employs around 50 on-screen staff: anchors, weather forecasters, correspondents and reporters, and over 500 behind-the-scenes workers. The station has 7 bureaux outside the United Kingdom & Ireland: Brussels, New Delhi, Johannesburg, Jerusalem, Moscow, Beijing and Washington, D.C. (although partnerships with other News Corporation-owned news outlets greatly increase this list)
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History
The channel originally operated on a shoestring but quickly gained a reputation for journalistic integrity. Although the channel was reportedly run at a loss until 2002 [1] its award-winning journalism has brought Sky Television and its successor British Sky Broadcasting some much-needed prestige. Whilst it is fashionable for many of the newcomers to the news channel market to rapidly hire-and-fire presenters, Sky News is unique in that many of the original presenting team from the 1980s launch remain at the channel. However, one of its longest standing presenters, Bob Friend MBE, retired in late 2003.
Sky News was the only UK 24 hour news service until the launch of BBC News 24 in November 1997, followed by the ITN News Channel (changing to the ITV News Channel before it closed down in December 2005) in August 2000. In September 1999 the European Commission ruled against a complaint by Sky News which argued that the publicly funded BBC News 24 was unfair and illegal under EU law. The EC ruled that the BBC licence fee should be considered state aid but that such aid was justified due to the public service remit of the BBC and that it did not exceed actual costs of the channel.
In March 2000 Sky News Active was launched, a 24-hour service providing headlines (and other services) on demand. It proved popular, and in late 2001/early 2002 it launched a 8-screen video news service, rather than just 4-screen. Sky News Poll, had also proved popular with a new question each day. In March 2004 it was announced that Sky News had won a 5-year contract to supply news bulletins to the British terrestrial channel Five, taking over from ITN in January 2005.
On October 24 2005, Sky News was relaunched from a brand-new studio in a new building at Osterley, West London. This replaced the building at Isleworth which had been in use for almost 17 years since the channel's launch. Music and on screen graphics were heavily revised and for the first time in the channel's history it began broadcasting in Widescreen (16:9) EDTV format (except for Sky News International which remained 4:3) . The new schedule includes more programmes based around news presenters such as Jeremy Thompson, while still breaking news around the clock. In this, Sky News would be following the example of CNN and Fox News in the United States. Former US State Department Spokesperson James Rubin has also signed with Sky News to present an hour-long evening news show. He is married to CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
Sky News has been featured in many blockbuster feature films including 20th Century Fox releases; Independence Day, Mission: Impossible, Behind Enemy Lines, Shaun of the Dead and The Day After Tomorrow. 20th Century Fox is another News Corp. asset.
Programming
Image:Sky rubin.jpg Regular schedule as of October 24 2005: Weekdays:
- 6.00am - Sunrise with Eamonn Holmes and Lorna Dunkley.
- 9.00am - Sky News Today with live breaking news as it develops.
- 12.00pm - Lunchtime Live with Kay Burley taking a comprehensive look at the day's news with human interest stories.
- 2.00pm - Sky News Today
- 5.00pm - Live at Five, a fast-paced look at the day's top stories with Jeremy Thompson.
- 6.30pm - Sportsline *
- 7.00pm - The Sky Report with Julie Etchingham, a hard-hitting news analysis show.
- 8.00pm - World News Tonight, presented by James Rubin, taking a look at the news from an international perspective.
- 9.00pm - Sky News Tonight
- 10.00pm - Sky News at Ten is a round-up of the day's top stories, with Chris Roberts and Gillian Joseph. *
- 10.30pm - Sportsline
- 11.00pm - Sky News Tonight takes a look at tomorrow's top stories.
- 12.00am - Sky News On The Hour, overnight news coverage to 4am. Includes broadcast of CBS Evening News at 12:30am and 3:30am.
- 4.00am - Sky World News
- 4.30am - Sky World Review and Business Report
- 5.00am - Sky World News
- 5.30am - Sky World Review and Business Report
Weekends:
- 6.00am - Sunrise
- 10.00am Saturday only - Saturday Live with Martin Stanford, mixing news and sport with showbiz and technology
- 10.00am Sunday only - Sunday Live with Adam Boulton, an in-depth look at world of politics from the heart of Westminster
- 12.00pm - Sky News On The Hour
- 5.00pm - Live at Five
- 7.00pm - Sky News On The Hour
- 4.00am - Sky World News
- 4.30am - Sky World Review and Business Report
- 5.00am - Sky World News
- 5.30am - Sky World Review and Business Report
Shows marked with * are replaced with Sky News Ireland on Irish cable and satellite systems.
In addition to the above regular schedule, as of January 2006 Sky News has begun transmitting one-off special reports covering specific issues, with the schedule being altered to allow their inclusion. Most specials last 30 minutes, with the regular programme for that hour being shortened to 30 minutes and the special starting at half past the hour. In the case of longer specials lasting close to an hour, a brief news summary is given on the hour, with the special starting a few minutes after.
Perception
Today Sky News continues to maintain an impressive standard of journalism in the face of tough competition. It is somewhat different to stablemate Fox News, the US sister channel with which it sometimes exchanges material. Sky News at the moment relies more on news rather than Fox News' anchor-based commentary, such as that provided by Bill O'Reilly. During 2003, plans to offer Sky News in the US were under consideration, but have since been dropped allegedly due to pressure from Fox News.
Image:Sky news centre.jpgThe station has not been without controversy. In early 1994 Kelvin Mackenzie, former editor of the Sun newspaper, was appointed Managing Director of BSkyB. MacKenzie's proposed changes to Sky News lead to clashes with CEO Sam Chisholm and the head of Sky News, Ian Frykberg, who protested what they saw as an attempt to take its news values downmarket and concentrate on stories that would be more familiar to tabloid newspapers than its rivals at the BBC and ITN.
The main problems arose when it became clear that Frykberg, then head of News and Sport at BSkyB, wanted to take Sky News to a wider international audience. Frykberg outlined his intention to open 15 new Sky News bureaux around the world and make the channel a serious alternative to CNN. At the time, he was backed by Rupert Murdoch *[2]. There was also talk of the US CBS network acquiring a stake in Sky News, and the two launching a joint international news channel. Mackenzie, in contrast, wanted the channel to focus on more domestic and 'tabloid' stories. The most ferocious battle occurred when Mackenzie wanted Sky News to run an interview with Lady Bienvenida Buck, exposed by the News of the World as being the mistress of Chief of Defence staff Sir Peter Harding. Frykberg refused to air the interview and resigned shortly afterwards. The interview did not air on Sky News, and was instead shifted to Sky One.
MacKenzie announced his resignation in August 1994.
A 1993 report on public trust in news outlets ranked Sky News far below the more established TV networks and newspapers. However the station has undoubtedly got past this in its news coverage, to the point of being nominated for International Emmy Awards and a 2004 report listed Sky as second only to the BBC in terms of public trust in British news outlets.
Its coverage of the Louise Woodward trial in Boston, US, garnered the channel international attention. Capitalising on the live broadcasts from the courtroom, Sky News covered the trial as-it-happened, with constant live coverage. After days of live courtroom television, Sky attempted to return to a more regular schedule, only to be inundated with complaints by viewers demanding that the trial return to the screens; Sky obliged. They also took the opportunity to rig up a huge television screen in a pub in Woodward's home village of Elton in Cheshire, with 24/7 coverage of the trial in progress. Villagers rallied round the screen, and Sky recorded their reactions to every detail of the trial. The channel came in for further criticism, with many accusing it of maintaining a pro-Louise Woodward stance, even after she was found guilty.
At the turn of the millennium, Sky began a process of expanding its international coverage, opening more overseas bureaux in Africa, Europe, the far East, and so on. Its coverage of the war in Kosovo eclipsed long-standing rivals at CNN and the BBC, both of whom could only just muster telephone reports, whilst Sky had live reporters in-vision across the region; for that, it won awards from the Royal Television Society and BAFTA, as well as a nomination for an International Emmy Award.
Its coverage of the September 11, 2001 attacks brought more honours, and more recognition from BAFTA and the RTS. During the first week or so of the invasion of Afghanistan, Its US sister station Fox News substituted its late-night repeats of its own programming with a simulcast of Sky News. In 2002/3, its coverage of the Soham Murders in Cambridgeshire gave the channel yet more awards, and the British Academy award for news coverage. Later that year, its (also award-winning) coverage of the Iraq conflict saw it yet again steal a march on its rivals, with US networks CBS and Fox News carrying much of its coverage.
Despite increased competition from the BBC, Sky News remains the default news channel for opinion formers in UK. Indeed, recently the BBC Head of News, Peter Horrocks, admitted that it was Sky News that is to be found on the tv screens of all the major UK national newsdesks (as well as a good deal of others across the globe), not the BBC.
Reception
Sky News is free-to-air on the satellites carrying the Sky Digital platform. It is also available on Freeview.
An international version - the UK feed, minus advertisements, the clock , the scrolling headlines banner and cropped to 4:3 - is free-to-air on Astra 1E at 19.2E. It is also carried encrypted on a number of satellites for international reception - including but not limited to Hotbird, Nilesat, Amos 1 and Intelsat 10-02. It is also usually carried on cable systems in Europe, particularly (but not only) in Northern Europe.
Related channels
As well as the original UK version, there are a growing number of other "Sky News" channels, and additional News Corporation news channels. They share content and expertise, but differ in focus and presentation.
Sky News Australia
The first Sky News deriviate was Sky News Australia, launched on February 19 1996 as a joint venture between BSkyB, Publishing and Broadcasting Limited and the Seven Network. This channel makes heavy use of Sky News UK material. The UK version in its entirety is also available in Australia, but only in a low bitrate form.
Granada Talk TV
Granada Talk TV launched on October 1 1996 as part of the Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture between BSkyB and Granada. It was a partial-day UK opinion focused current affairs channel. It ceased transmission in August 1997.
Fox News Channel
Sky News' "sister channel" in the United States is Fox News Channel, launched on October 7, 1996. Fox and Sky use each others correspondents, studios and footage but there is a gulf in editorial stances of the two channels. Following Sky News' successful coverage of the 2003 Iraq War, some of which was broadcast on Fox News, there was a proposal to launch a Sky News US. This never happened, possibly due to sharp increases in ratings for FOX News.
Sky Scottish
Sky Scottish launched on November 1 1996 as a joint venture between BSkyB and Scottish Media Group. It was partial-day Sky UK channel with a focus on Scottish news and sport. It ceased transmission in June 1998.
STAR News
Hindi news channel STAR News was launched in 1998 on Asia's STAR TV platform. It is another News Corp channel that owes much in terms of style and presentation to Sky News.
Sky News Australia New Zealand
New Zealand's Sky News Australia New Zealand launched in 2001. Initially, only local news bulletins differentiated it from Sky News Australia, but its level of local programming has now increased. Some of this programming is also broadcast on Sky News Australia.
Sky TG24
Sky TG24, known to some English speakers as "Sky News Italia" launched on August 23 2003. However this Italian language channel has little in common with Sky News UK.
Sky News Ireland
Sky News Ireland began in May 2004. This differs from Sky News UK only in that it includes two local halfhour weekdaily programmes, and a weekly summary programme.
The standard UK Sky News channel is also available in a number of other countries; it is occasionally shown in hotels and is offered by some cable systems as part of their English-language line-up. The key differences between this overseas version and the UK version are the omission of the current time on the screen (reflecting that the channel may be shown outside of its normal GMT/BST time zone), and the absence of advertisements. In the space of the advertisement breaks are written summaries of news, business & sports headlines, accompanied by different mixes of the normal Sky News theme music.
